Saudi Central Bank Raises Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Saudi Central Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,178 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,069 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after acquiring an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after acquiring an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $115.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.16. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $121.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 47.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.